


Mistletoe

by TheAdamantDaughter



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Katara - Freeform, Zuko - Freeform, Zutara, Zutara Month
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-13 13:03:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9124969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAdamantDaughter/pseuds/TheAdamantDaughter
Summary: Zutara Month, Day 1





	

**Fall**

"Zuko, what is this?"

He turned from the array of gardeners to find oceanic eyes upon him. Katara was smiling, a hint of curiosity tickling her lips. Zuko felt his own curl upward as she padded through the grass.

Her fingers ensnared his cloak, imploring him with a lazy tug to open the warm wool, to let her hide from the rushing breeze.

"A surprise I didn't mean for you to see until tonight," he obliged her dual requests, answering her question and pulling her close.

They stood silently for a moment, watching frenzied men coax waxy leaves and brown stems around the branches of the palace's many apple trees.

She twisted in his arms. "You know it's a parasite, right?"

"The mistletoe will die off after Spring," Zuko shrugged, chuckling. "With the cold winter almost here, I thought it'd be nice to have something from your home blooming this season."

"I love it." Katara reached to cup his cheek. "Thank you."

* * *

_Tears slipped free, wetting his cheeks and hers in the midst of a frantic kiss. He wanted to slow them, to drag on the moment to eternity's end. He knew he couldn't._

_"I don't want to go."_

_Her words were but a gasp, caught between the sorrowful truth and the impending pleasure of his touch. Shaking hands grasped her bare hips, fingers digging in, like holding her to him could prevent the inevitable break._

_"I don't want you to leave."_

_His robes fell from his shoulders, maroon fabric landing in a mess so his skin was as freed as hers. They toppled upon red sheets, smattered kisses covering up the pain for a heartbeat._

_He pulled back. She traced the line of his lips, her eyes full of hurt._

_"Please, Kat, don't leave me."_

**Winter**

"Can you smell the snow?" Zuko whispered in her ear, knowing the waterbender had an even better sense of the dark clouds hanging overhead.

They were thick, billowing puffs- grey floating as a stark contrast to the white berries speckling the apple trees. The atmosphere would've been cold, even for him, had Druk not rested behind them both, offering heat from the deep rumble in his chest.

Katara snuggled under Zuko's arm, cradling a cup tea between brown fingers. "It'll fall tonight."

"Are you willing to bet on that?"

"Snow may be a rare occurrence in these lands, Fire Lord," she smirked, kissing him between her words, "but I am never wrong."

* * *

_He would've thought his request went unheard, had her mouth not sealed over his with a renewed fervor. Her hands memorized the expanse of his chest, her fingers pausing on the scar declared her own._

_"You know I have to."_

_"I know."_

_He sighed against her neck, then replacing the shaking breath with a hurried kiss. At her moan, he followed up the column of her throat, pecking her jaw, nipping her lips._

_"Zuko?"_

_She had a thousand questions in her eyes- Would she see him again? Would he love her still? Would this be the end?_

_With hardly a response for her, he let his actions speak between them. Hands in her hair, then down her sternum, drawing circles around dusty peaks to pull groans off her tongue. Fingers across her stomach, between her thighs. Palms clutching her waist when their bodies pressed flush, holding her like a love lost._

**Spring**

"I thought I'd find you here."

Zuko's fists curled, not at the comment but at the voice with which it was delivered. It wasn't hers. But, of course, he wouldn't resent his uncle for a visit.

"The berries are beautiful, aren't they?" He turned around, facing the elderly man with a forced smile upon his face.

Iroh saw through it. "Have you heard from her?"

"Her father's been released by Arnook. I sent troops to aid in defense against the North."

A wrinkled hand landed on Zuko's shoulder, offering a firm squeeze before disappearing. He heard a heavy sigh, one which revealed the weight his uncle carried alongside him.

 **A war.** The North started a war to keep the Fire Lord and the Southern Chief's daughter apart.

"I- I just wish there was some way-" Zuko stammered, pushing unruly locks of raven hair towards his topknot- "I love her, Uncle. I love her and I can't be with her."

* * *

_They rose and fell together, the next cries of his name full of want rather than worry._

_"Zuko, I need you."_

_He rolled them, so she was beneath him, completely surrounded by the halo of warmth brought by his skin. His lips sought her breasts. Hers moved along his shoulder._

_"Katara, you have me."_

_Her nails raked down his back, her body arching beneath him. He drank in her sounds, her name falling a thousand times from his tongue._

_In this moment, they were strong; a crescendo of moans, a tangle of limbs. In this moment, they were home; two, now one, coming together, falling apart._

**Summer**

The mistletoe was dying.

Summer was just on the cusp of its full heat, yet the mistletoe was dying.

This land was too hot. This land was too afire. The heat of the sun burned the waxen green in much the same manner his affection had scorched her.

Zuko halted a passing gardener, gesturing at the bushels in his arms. The plant was fully withered, out of season as much as the plant was out of its rightful region.

How many nights had they spent under these leaves? How many times had the berries prompted kissing and giggling and a host of happy memories?

He cut a sprig away. "Thank you."

The man nodded, then heading on his way to a pile of brush. Several others milled around him, pulling the mistletoe from the trees and raking debri was the grass. Zuko watched as long as he could bear.

Summer was here. The mistletoe was dead.

It was time to let her go.

* * *

_She buried her face in his neck, a satisfied breath ghosting over his skin._

_"I love you," she murmured. "Remember that when I'm gone."_

_If it was to be their last night, he'd spend it like this: his throat raw from saying her name, his body spent from filling hers, his heart hammering against his ribs._

_She stroked his chest. His eyes blurred on the mistletoe dancing in the snowy breeze beyond their suite._

_"I'll love you for all of my days."_


End file.
